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Photo of the Week: Observing World Food Day

Every year on October 16, the international community unites around World Food Day to increase awareness about global hunger. Today, nearly one billion people suffer from chronic hunger, and more than 3.5 million children die from undernutrition each year. As President Barack Obama said in his message recognizing World Food Day, "The United States has a moral obligation to lead the fight against global hunger, and we have put food security at the forefront of global development efforts. Through initiatives like Feed the Future, we are helping partner countries transform their agriculture sectors by investing in smallholder farmers -- particularly women -- who are the key to spurring economic growth and sustainably cultivating enough food to feed their people."

In remarks at a Feed the Future event in New York last month, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, "As a result of all the work of so many people over the last four years, food security is now at the top of our national and foreign policy agendas, as well as that of so many other nations in the world, because we understand it is a humanitarian and moral imperative, but it also directly relates to global security and stability. I've seen in my travels how increased investments in agriculture and nutrition are paying off in rising prosperity, healthier children, better markets, and stronger communities.”

In this week's "Photo of the Week," which comes to us from Siegfried Modola of USAID/Kenya, a farmer, who benefits from the support of Feed the Future, shows millet grown on his farm in western Kenya on July 18, 2012. Feed the Future, the U.S. government's global hunger and food security initiative, supports agricultural cooperatives and producers organizations throughout the world, helping link smallholder farmers to markets.

Comments

Comments

There is enough area inthe world to keep anyone from being hungry. We as all nations must keep production of food a priority.

L

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District Of Columbia, USA

October 22, 2012

L. in Washington, D.C. writes:

I made a donation to my local food bank.

Judith P.

October 23, 2012

Judith P. writes:

Sarah, this is a great photo representing the impact agriculture can have on increasing food security. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) supports the U.S. Government’s Feed The Future initiative and looks forward to working together to increase food security around the world. OPIC understands that poverty and poor agricultural infrastructure are two of the key causes of hunger and malnutrition. By supporting projects that help create jobs, build roads or improve infrastructure in other ways, we can also help to address food insecurity. Because of that, we have worked to increase investments in agriculture and clean water projects. We recently announced that we set a record for commitments to renewable resources projects in fiscal Year 2011 and much of the growth we achieved reflects an increase in investment in clean water and agricultural projects. opic.gov/blog/opic-in-action/opic-has-another-record-setting-year-for-renewable-resources